


Boys and Girls of Every Age

by Star_Going_Supernova



Series: Matters of the Heart [4]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe, Halloween, Heart Attack Levels of Fluff, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Slice of Life, angst? don't know her, last halloween i wrote about a demon murdering other demons for his friend, literally short and sweet, not even a little, the cuteness is too powerful, this halloween you get this mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 12:18:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16475426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Going_Supernova/pseuds/Star_Going_Supernova
Summary: It's the toons' first Halloween in the studio, and the employees are ready to make it a good one for them.





	Boys and Girls of Every Age

**Author's Note:**

> Tier, you asked so you shall receive. I wanted to know if anyone had any ideas for this AU, and her response included this prompt: _If I may make a suggestion, the proud papas organizing a little Halloween party at the studio so their inky children can trick or treat safely would be positively adorable :D_
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy it! Happy Spoop Day! (title from This is Halloween, if you didn’t already guess that for yourselves)

“All right, you little monsters,” Henry said, kneeling down to match the toons’ height. “Don’t go traumatizing the whole studio tonight, got it?”

Alice, making a convincing Wonder Woman, nodded and said, “Yes, Henry.” Bendy, dressed as a pumpkin, and Boris, pulling off Frankenstein’s monster really well, both saluted.

“Good. Now get outta here and have some fun.” Henry nudged them out of Joey’s office, watching them run off down the darkened hallway to trick-or-treat from various employees before gently closing the door.

On the couch, Joey grinned at him. “See? We have nothing to worry about, and they get to have some classic Halloween fun. And you say I never have good ideas.”

Henry flopped down next to him. “This was Norman’s idea, you nincompoop. No, _your_ idea was sending them off on their own for the their first Halloween—and I don’t care that they’re perfectly safe in the studio, I still wanted to be with them—so that we can watch a horror movie while they’re busy getting sugar high.”

Shrugging unrepentantly, Joey tugged Henry closer until their sides were pressed together. “It was this or watch it with them, and we both know how that would’ve gone.”

“We could just not watch a movie.”

Joey pouted at him. “But it’s a tradition. It’s _our_ tradition.” He ignored Henry’s muttered, _“It’s probably half the nation’s tradition,”_ choosing to get the movie set up instead.

• • • • •

Bendy admired the carved pumpkin outside Norman’s office. There was a projector stuck through the back of it, lighting it up rather than a candle, and the resulting flickering effect was suitably spooky.

Alice knocked on the door, calling, “Trick or treat!”

The door slowly creaked open. They slipped into the candle-lit room, immediately finding Norman sitting at his desk, a sheet with holes cut out for eyes draped over him.

“Aw, c’mon Norman, where’s the originality in that?” Bendy asked.

“Boo,” Norman said from behind them.

Even Boris shrieked with the others, all three toons leaping into the air. It was probably a good thing Norman was their first stop; if their buckets had been filled with candy, they would’ve made an absolute mess of the projectionist’s office.

Panting, Bendy collapsed onto his back, staring up at Norman. With the way he was standing behind the door, cloaked in pure shadows with the candlelight glinting off the lens of his glasses, Bendy had to give credit where credit was due. That was a dang good scare.

After collecting their treats, they moved on. Wally was waiting by the stairs with a pointy witch’s hat on his head and one of his mops leaning against his shoulder. He offered them cups of his potion—fresh apple cider—straight out of an actual cauldron at his feet.

Under Susie’s direction, the music department had been transformed into an eerie graveyard. Susie, appropriately dressed as Alice Angel, had them reach through the “dirt” of each grave—really just fuzzy brown cloth stretched over boxes sitting in front of each tall headstone—and feel whatever was waiting just out of sight.

Peeled grapes for eyeballs, cold spaghetti noodles for guts, a couple cheese sticks for fingers, and steamed cauliflower for brains. Alice shuddered and Bendy shrieked in delighted disgust. Boris pulled a few of the grapes out and popped them in his mouth. Of course, one of the graves hid a bowl of candy bars, and they divided their reward up between them.

Offering Susie and the other voice actors and band members their heartfelt thanks and cheerful goodbyes, the trio headed to the other end of the music department, where Sammy was sulking in his office.

Along with his normal suspenders, the only attempt at a costume that he’d made was a cardboard Bendy mask.

“Susie threatened to dump all the noodles from her game on the floor in here if I took it off,” he grumbled as they laughed. Along with some frosted cookies sitting at the edge of his desk, he gave them a key.

“Don’t ask me what it goes to,” he said, leaning back and propping his feet up on his desk. “All I know is that the door is in the studio.”

They took turns looking at the key as they munched on the cookies. Henry had made them, they could tell. His always tasted better than store-bought treats, and Joey was helpless in the kitchen unless he’d been shown how to make something dozens of times by Henry. Cookies weren’t on that list yet.

“Y’know what,” Alice said, “I think I recognize this. It looks like the one to our room.”

They trekked through the dark, jack-o-lantern-lit halls, buckets full of candy and bellies already full of sugar. The door to the room with the Ink Machine—their room—was locked, and just as Alice had guessed, the key they’d been given allowed them entry.

A small nest of blankets and pillows had been made on top of a large mattress, the perfect size for all three of them. There was an enormous Bendy plush sitting in the middle of it, a tag hanging off one of its horns reading, _Happy Halloween! When I get back, come visit the workshop and tell me what you think of this big guy! -Shawn_.

There was also a projector set up, pointed toward a sheet stretched over the opposite wall from the nest. They’d all seen Norman use the projectors enough that they had no trouble starting it up before settling in, leaning against the giant plush with their candy buckets within easy reach.

And so began a special Halloween short film made by Henry and his team just for them.

• • • • •

The movie faded to black, the credits beginning to roll a second or two later. Henry yawned and stretched his arms. Tucked between him and the couch, Joey continued to cower against his fiancé’s back.

“It’s over, right?” Joey asked. His knuckles were white where he gripped at Henry’s shirt.

Turning his head to peek over his shoulder, Henry laughed lightly, nudging Joey. “And you wanted to use spells and dark magick to summon demons or something. You scaredy cat.”

“It’s different!”  
  
“Yeah,” Henry agreed. “It’d have been real instead of special effects.”

Joey didn’t have a comeback for that, so he just grumbled wordlessly against the nape of Henry’s neck.

“Hey.” Henry swatted at him. “Cut that out, it tickles.”

He could feel Joey smirk against his sensitive skin. “Oh sure. That’s what it’s doing. It _tickles.”_

Ignoring the slight warmth in his cheeks, Henry shoved himself up from the couch. “We should go check on the toons.”

As Henry headed for the hallway, flipping the office lights on as he went, he heard Joey grouse behind him, “That’s what all the parents say, isn’t it.” Despite not getting what he wanted, Henry knew Joey would hurry after him.

Reaching the Ink Machine room, he gently pushed the door open, careful to stay quiet if the toons were sleeping. The cartoon he’d made was evidently over, the projector left to cast a flickering light that filled the room,

True to his suspicions, the candy buckets were mostly empty and all three of his kids were sound asleep. With Joey’s help, he straightened up the room and shut the projector off, before the two of them made their way out to their car, arms filled with the toons.

Once they were secure in the backseat, Henry cracked his spine, looking over at the dark studio building. Theirs was the last car in the parking lot, everyone else having gone home after interacting with Bendy and the others.

Joey came up behind him, wrapping his arms around Henry’s waist and leaning his chin on the shorter man’s shoulder. “I’d say tonight was a rousing success. You did good.”

“ _Everyone_ did good,” Henry corrected him. “I’m glad we were able to set this up for them. I was so worried they’d have to miss out…”

“Our friends wouldn’t allow that.”

“Yeah. They really went above and beyond tonight,” Henry said. He rested his own hands over Joey’s, who immediately sought out the ring on his finger to fiddle with it.

Their bands were similar, the only true difference being the color running around the center. Joey’s was deep blue, matching Henry’s eyes, while Henry’s was bright green, matching Joey’s. Set in black metal, the rings were both gorgeous and absolutely perfect for them.

When they finally broke out of the comfortable silence, having been absently swaying to music that only existed between them, they climbed into the car to head home and put the toons in a proper bed.

“This was a good Halloween,” Henry said softly, staring out into the night as Joey came to a stop at a red light.

Joey chuckled. “You say that like it’s over.”

“Well, it is.”

“Are you tired?” Joey asked.

“Not really, no. Why?”

With the ruby tint illuminating his face, Joey gave Henry a knowing, hungry look. “Because the night’s only just getting started for us adults. What else are sugar comas good for than to give a couple of parents some alone time?”

**Author's Note:**

> The ending’s kinda suggestive, but if you want, you can imagine them having a bobbing for apples contest instead. 
> 
> Let me know what you guys thought, and to any trick-or-treaters: stays safe! :)


End file.
